Pre Reading

The Writing Conference

Children learn to write and spell by writing. If you can get them writing every day and loving it then they are on their way to becoming literate. Part of the process involves them becoming responsible for the quality of their writing which includes the ideas, the flow, the awareness of the needs of their audience, while they also need to spend time learning to get the formal bits right such as spelling, punctuation, and grammar. To keep them motivated to write there needs to be a balance between the writing and the editing, while at the same time they need to be responsible for learning to edit their own work, and this is where the 'conference' approach is so effective. It allows us to get students focussed on editing one aspect of their work at a time until that skill is mastered.

	What is a writing 'conference' and why do I need to know about it? The writing conference is: a way of interacting with children and building up their self-confidence a recipe for helping to improve writing a way of getting children to take more responsibility for their own self improvement the most enjoyable time to spend with children

Key Ideas	Explanation
Adults are important audiences for children's writing (as are other children)	Children love to write when there are audiences who will listen. As a parent or teacher you are the main 'audience' for children's writing. Therefore it is best not to be seen as an unfriendly or judgemental critic, but as a 'critical friend'. Critical friends listen and help, give friendly advice, sit on their hands, but don't take over. To establish these roles you will need some time for children to write and draw and share their work with you, and for you to just be a listener, to be an appreciative audience. Small pieces of writing every day or an ongoing writing task would be ideal. While this relationship is becoming established a climate of trust will be evident, and you will be able to channel their energy towards the creation of better quality writing through individual and group conferences.
Children need genuine reasons to write	At first, beginner writers will just draw their experiences and write about their drawings. All you need to do is to provide the materials and the time for it to happen. You could show them what to do by demonstrating how you draw and write, and by writing with them and to them regularly. Older writers should be guided to write in different ways and styles, always with a real purpose. Examples could include notes, letters, applications, recipes, stories, plays, poetry, reports, etc.
	Celebrate their writing by displaying it for everyone to see, and by continuing to sing their praises as writers. This acceptance of what and how they write is unconditional. With beginner writers you are not going to need to, or want to improve their writing because everybody understands that they are still in the beginning stages. With older children you may feel the need to improve their writing but you need to look first at the reasons for their writing and their intended audience. If their motivation to write is strong and the audience needs to see a better version of their writing then you need to have a conference about it, and help them improve it.
Genuine reasons to write arise daily, and include: writing about my drawings shopping lists notes to other people request list for birthday presents lists of people to invite for parties lists of food for parties, special occasions a daily diary, or journal a record of a trip or excursion notes to accompany photographs ("here I am on my bike") my favourite food, singers, colours, etc. posters about my pets The next list is different because the reasons to write include different and wider audiences, and the writing needs to be readable and at an appropriate standard, but not necessarily perfect. letters to Santa, the Tooth fairy, the Easter Bunny, etc invitations to friends and relatives letters to relatives school lunch orders notes and letters to friends stories poems a photographic record of a holiday, or excursion recipes This writing may need a conference or two before it is ready to be seen by the wider audience of family and friends
Children must see the need to use conferences to improve their writing	How do you get your children to see the need to edit their work? Talk to them about the audience for their writing! For instance, if it is for Grandma, you could ask if they want Grandma to see their mistakes? Will Grandma be able to understand it? Would you like to show it to me first so that we can be sure that its OK for Grandma to read?
The initiative stays with the writer	Begin the conference with the question, "What can I help you with?" or "What bits are you not sure about?" throwing the initiative back to the child so that you are responding to their concerns. Questions to ask: "Which bits do you want me to look at?" "When I read it what do you want me to look for?" "Would you like to read it to me first to see how it hangs together?" "Can we check if it sounds OK first?" "Do you know where to put in the full stops?"
The pen or pencil stays in the writer's hand	Although you may be tempted to take over, leave the pencil in the child's hand. Sit on your hands! Get the child to do only one task at a time such as checking that it all makes sense, checking punctuation or spelling. Where there is a lot of text to check, make the task manageable by suggesting that the first paragraph be checked, and when this is done well, you actually check the rest or arrange some other way for it to be completed.
Focus on one task at a time. It is tempting to try to fix many things but just choose one thing to learn at a time.	Ways to direct each child: "Why don't you go through it first and circle the words you are not sure of. Then I'll help you with them." "You read it to me first to make sure it makes sense." "Read it over yourself and put in the full stops every time you stop to take a breath." "You have a go at fixing the spelling and then I'll help."
Ways to help or cope when there's too many errors, can't read it, too much to correct, etc. This is where you need the help of other adults if there is too much for one person to do.	"Use the computer to type it out." It is a good time to learn to type. Show children how to use the spell checker too. "You read it to me and I'll type it out for you." This is a great way to get a finished copy out quickly, after the child has done a little editing. Then get the child to illustrate the typed copy. "You read it and I'll write it out for you." "You tell me what to write, and together we'll get it done." You can involve the child in this by asking for spellings that you think the child can manage. Also ask about where to put full stops, capitals, commas, etc.